“So when are you due?” the driver asks, eyeing my enormous belly.
“Soon!” I say.
“But it isn’t today, is it?” the driver clarifies fearfully.
“No, I hope not.”
“So what is it?” she asks.
“It’s a boy.”
“Yes, yes, yes!” the driver exclaims. “Every pregnant woman I meet is having a girl. It’s like an epidemic! Good thing you, at least, are having a boy.”
“Erm . . .” I say, unsure of what to contribute to the discussion.
Clarissa's Blog 
“That’s certainly one way of looking at it” (and a number of permutations thereof) is a handy all purpose expression just made for such a situation. It has the advantage of being true and most of the time the person it’s said to takes it as acknowledgement and agreement. Win win.
LikeLike
Perhaps something like “We are just happy the baby is healthy and doing great, and we’re very excited.”
LikeLike
My stock reply for inanities like that is, “Really”. Depending on the intrusive/offensiveness of the preceding statement I add eyebrows, flat tone and and a fullstop. and a drawn out first syllable. If it’s important to be polite, I’ll go with ‘goodness! ‘ or ‘that’s interesting.’
LikeLike
I was especially taken aback by the word “epidemic.” People use it for everything these days without even thinking about what it means.
LikeLike